How to find a house boat to rent in london?

May 29, 2008 8:32 AM

What's the best way to look for a house boat to rent in London?

I've been checking the usual suspects, Loot, Gumtree, but there don't seem to be many options popping up, unless I'm missing an obvious subcategory. Is it just because they're few and far between, or is it that I'm looking in the wrong places?

posted by YouRebelScum to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

Have you tried the search term "narrow boat" or "canal boat"? Those are the most plentiful 'boats you can rent and live on for a week' in England, but they are limited to the canals and some rivers.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:38 AM on May 29, 2008

I know two people that live on boats in London, but in both cases AFAIK they own the boats but rent the moorings (in one case sub-letting by mooring up to the site of another boat with long standing moorings). From what I know getting long term can be hard unless you have half a million for a houseboat in Chelsea, and are declining in number.

I can't recommend anywhere specific in London but you might be better off looking for notice boards in places where boaters hang out (there were always boats advertised at the place you went to pick up fuel when I would hand around on a mates boat in Bristol).

The equivalent of estate agents are known as yacht brokers and a quick googling brings up this: http://london.apolloduck.co.uk which seems to be a classifieds site for people selling boats etc.
posted by tallus at 9:02 AM on May 29, 2008